It’s A New Year For The Dolphins, What Now?

0:00You're listening to the DolphinsTalk.com podcast network. You're listening to the FinFans podcast throughout the off season. I will be talking about anything going on with the Miami Dolphins. From pre-agency to the draft and the start of the new year moves and just about everything else that's relevant to the football team. We hope to join us and enjoy the show. Here we go. And it's another FinFans podcast with me today. Are there were goingies? How are you Lewis? I'm great. Thank you. Chris? Good, great. We're getting closer to pre-agency, the draft, you know, I'm hyped, some pumps. You get excited. You get excited. You get excited. I thought he was going to say, yeah, we're getting closer to the season, you know, we're only six months away.

1:02No. Remember last off season, yeah, we're only two, two and a half months away. The off seasons are long, man, especially when we go out like we have the last couple of years, you know, where we want that new season to start right away and, you know, try to forget about what happened last year. Now, I don't know that this year is going to be like that. Yeah. But anyway, the dolphins made some moves. Obviously, the speculation is, and we've talked about this, that Bradley Trouble will be released on Wednesday, the 11th, when the new league year starts. That's the same time the pre-agency starts at 4 p.m. Yesterday, they released Alec Engel and Jason Sanders. Not real surprising, either of those moves surprised you guys. No. I think I'm a little bit higher on Engel than you two are, but, you know, it's just another

2:03leader we're losing in the locker room, you know, he did a lot for the community. He was always taking part in the different events and stuff like that, which was cool to see. And among the guys in the locker room, you know, he was loved, you know, there was a couple of guys who posted, you know, good luck to wherever you're going and, you know, best of luck for you. Sanders I really like too. I just think that Patterson had such a good year last year. It's like, what are we saving, like, 5 million cut in Sanders? Well, between the two moves and the other transactions, they are a little over 5 million under the cap. Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I understand it from the cap perspective, it just, you know, like I said, it sucks to keep losing the few leaders in the locker room we do have, but, and it's interesting too, because Slowick said that he likes the use of the full back and stuff like that. And, you know, he had angled last year, he was a part of the offense. So, maybe he just didn't like what he saw and we're going to try to make a different

3:05move. They did try to reassign him, Chris. They offered him a pick cut and they couldn't agree to terms. Who is that? I'm sorry. Engled. Engled, yeah. Yeah. Similar offense. So, you got to think at some point, we're going to make a move for a full back and try to utilize that unless they have a tight end in the draft. I mean, there is one prospect coming out in this year's draft that is, or was an age back that's converted into a tight end so you can kind of do everything. But, yeah, I'm interested to see what we do with that going forward. Yeah. A couple days prior to that, they reassigned Linebacker Cameron Good, Good Special Team's player. They tendered cornerback, Ethan Bonner, and that keeps his rights with the team as an exclusive rights player. They waved Liam Eikenberg. And he thought it's on that, guys. I'm going to go back to Engled first. I mean, Chris, it wasn't so much that we were down on him compared to what you thought of him.

4:06I mean, we know he's got great character, but his grades. You know, he's on the field blocking purposes. They just weren't good week to week. They were actually very low. So he wasn't getting the job done to some extent, so you got to value these guys, what their contracts are and whether they're going to bring enough to the table. And that's the reason he was gone the same with Jason Sanders. I mean, they had a cheaper replacement who did a very good job last year. So both of those moves kind of make sense. Any money you can save at this point with this football team, you're going to do it. So Eikenberg, the injury, Chris talked about this over and over again, that his injury was serious. And who knows what level of play he's going to be at and his play was, even when he was

5:09healthy, it wasn't great. Right. If he can play, his level of play was not great anyway. You know, he was another draft pick failure, you know, a draft pick that we moved up to take. You know, we gave up something to get him in that draft and, you know, he just never played well. You know, he bounced around the cross the offensive line. He got experience everywhere, but he didn't really do a good job anywhere. So they're getting rid of a lot of excessive money per se for what they're getting back from these guys. And, you know, I hate to see Sanders go. I really do. You know, he was a great kicker for us for years, but, you know, it's a business and, you know, this team is not playing games. You know, they're making all the right moves. I mean, they're not bringing guys back, you know, just because the character, you know, they're bringing that they have to perform on the field at a certain level to where the money matches, you know, the value that they're giving the football team. Well, what you lose with Patterson is the long distance kicks that Sanders was proficient

6:15at. But, you know, other than that, he was pretty automatic. So, you know, you got to give someone to get some and obviously the price difference is substantial. So, they saved about three or four million dollars in releasing it. But we have to re-sign Patterson, right, Mike? Then we sign him to a one year deal. I believe so. I believe so. So, we'll see how that goes. Talk about Liam. I like Liam. I mean, he was not a good football player, but, you know, you got to give him credit. He got it it out. He really did. He played hurt a lot and he played all over the offensive line as needed. And, you know, I appreciate his effort and his attitude, but, unfortunately, he just wasn't a good enough football player. And now he's injured in that, you know, that just adds to the liability. Yeah, I always thought he was best suited as a guard, too. And it seemed like that's where I guess he got drafted at and then we moved him to tackle

7:17and then we moved him to center. It's like he never really stayed at one position to actually like work and, you know, so I agree. He blamed that solely on why his career, kind of, you know, I mean, the injuries definitely hurt, too. But when you're moving a guy around and you're not giving him consistent reps at one position, you know, not a lot of guys can do that. Well, in fairness, they moved him around at a necessity. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Of course. They're players. So they really didn't have a choice, but it was unfortunate for him. Yeah. I just feel like it kind of ruined his development a little bit or at least played part in that, you know. Prior to that, they released James Daniel's Terry Kill and W.I. We've talked about that. They signed a quarterback, Miles Patel. We'll see about him. They signed Jack Coons to a reserve future contract and they signed White receiver, Karen's Marshall Jr. to a future contract. Obviously, we don't know a lot about these players, but we'll see. I mean, they can't bodies, at least. Yeah.

8:17Marshall, I think if I'm not mistaken, was the second round pick. I believe so. Coons, I know is the tie-down, these friggin' mammoth of a human being. So they probably saw something that they like in him. Yeah. They have nothing else that's competition, right? Yeah. And that's what they're looking for. So we'll see how it turns out. You had some thoughts on Taren Armstead, Chris, you want to share that? Yeah. So he actually had a, he had Waddle on his show recently and it was cool to kind of hear different stories about, you know, from when did we sign Armstead in 22? I think so. So yeah, I mean, they were just talking about how that year in 22 when they brought in Armstead and they brought in Tyreek and, you know, like that the vibe and not just the locker room, but hard rock stadium in general, especially he was speaking more so about Tyreek like it was just a whole different energy level. And they talked a little bit about the 23 team and they both kind of agreed with the

9:21fact that we had enough talent, especially when we traded for Chubb and Ramsey that they could have made a real Super Bowl run, you know, it's just a team fell apart with injuries and even the play towards the end of the season kind of tailed off and it was just interesting. And then they talked about too a little bit and he was saying that Armstead was saying that it makes more sense to keep to a because, you know, with this game, you got to expect injuries and especially with quarterbacks with teams that are trying to make a run or, you know, maybe their quarterback gets hurt, but it's a small injury and they just need a guy for four or five games. I mean, I think two is a type of guy who can come in and, you know, win some games for a team. So the example he brought up, I believe, was Phillip Rivers, right? Yep. Yeah, exactly. You know, so, you know, would you go out and sign a 40 whatever year old Phillip Rivers or would you sign a 28 year old to a trade for him and, you know, we'd still, I forgot how

10:24that works. Like if they were to trade for two in the middle of the season, what the cap, how much would they would have to pay for it? But, I mean, the, the, the two of situation is definitely going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Well, I tend to think they're going to release him, but we'll see. Yeah. I think so too, but, you know, when it's costing us 11 million to cut him, I just don't know. I mean, with the team that's already cast strapped, I don't know if that's the smartest idea. One last thing about that, the Toronto Arms that interview, they asked him, or I forgot who, somebody asked him, you know, like, what was to his reaction when he got benched and he said verbatim, you know, the first words that came out of to his mouth were, you know, I'm trying to make sure Quinn is as prepared as he can be for this week. And I'm doing everything I can to help him succeed, which is what I think we all think about to as a teammate, like, I don't think he's like a self-centered, egotistical guy who was coming in late to meetings and stuff like that. Like, I don't think he's a cancer in the locker room.

11:26So I can see if they did end up keeping him for that purpose and then looking down the road, it maybe we can trade him in the middle of the season or something like that. I would understand why they would bring him back, but also if they cut him and just wanted to cut ties, you know, I understand that too. You know, when he came out and said it would be dope. If I got the opportunity to get a new start, I think that kind of seals his fate. Yeah. I mean, it's not like he said he hates being in Miami and stuff like that. It was kind of a nonchalant answer. And we didn't, I don't think that that was on video. So we don't know what the tone of it, how he said that. I think that was just like a report that that was made. So, but yeah, I mean, like I said, I can see it either going out either way and I can understand both viewpoints, you know, whether we keep him or whether we let him go. Yeah. No, he doesn't want to be here. I'm letting him go. Yeah. Well, I mean, listen, you know, he said some things, you know, to the press after games

12:28and whatnot that probably weren't, weren't in his best interest per se, you know, it was a deflection at times of his own play. I mean, he took accountability at times, but at other times, you know, he was, he was throwing people under the bus and, you know, that's something that as a leader of the football team, you kind of got to handle that, you know, behind closed doors sort of speak. I don't know, you know, what he will bring to the team if they do keep him. I personally think that they want to kind of just clean house. They want to, you know, get rid of the majority of guys that have been here, that have been the leaders on the football team and they want new guys in there, you know, running the show. So, you know, it financially and, you know, business wise, you know, that may be a reason that they keep them, you know, they'll weigh it out and, you know, they'll probably come

13:29up with the best, you know, the best situation for the team as a whole in regard to keeping them or not. It is going to be interesting and it's going to be interesting if they talk about it after the fact as what their thought process was for, you know, for releasing them or keeping them, if, you know, if they do in fact keep them. I mean, I'm very curious to see what their thought process, you know, and what, what, you know, what they say about their decision on that whole thing. Well, don't you think if they keep them, they would do it for competition purposes? Mike, with all the moves they're making, I honestly don't feel that they're, you know, they're overly concerned with being an overly competitive football team this year. I mean, in all honesty, and I mean, you know, we've talked about this before. Do you want a guy like him on the bench to come in and maybe, you know, play at a decent level? And when you some football games like Fitzpatrick did that year, you know, I, we don't really want to, I don't think we really want to be in that position.

14:33It's, you know, in the end, what is it, what purpose is it going to serve? Well, whether he plays or not, he's still competition, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, one way or another, you were, you know, their name and him, the quarterback unless they draft somebody. I mean, the competition, listen, we know what two is, Mike. So I mean, you bring him into the mix and for competition, you know what the end result is going to be with him. They know what he is at this point in his career. I mean, can he get a little bit better? You know, if he goes to a different team and, you know, throws the ball 20 times a game, yeah, he could probably win some football games for you. But, you know, as far as leading a football team, you know, we saw his leadership on the field, and off the field, and the results of that. And, you know, it, you know, in year what, this is going to be year seven of his career, year eight. Well, he came in his trip.

15:33He came in in 20. So this is going to be year seven. I just feel that if you're, if you're cleaning house, which they've done, then basically you clean house, you know, you don't leave bits and pieces around of, you know, a regime that was here and is now gone. And I mean, everybody, everybody. So that's my thought on it. No, I agree with you. You know, you're rebuilding. It's a fresh start under a new regime. I don't think you want, you know, the last guy's quarterback, especially when, you know, arguably he got two coaches fired. I said, arguably, I said, arguably, you can make that case. All right, what we're going to do is we're going to take a step back for just a couple minutes and we'll be right back. I mean, if we brought him back, I don't think it would be for him to compete for the starting job.

16:33I think it'd be just to save that 11 million, hold him as a backup and, you know, like Armstead said, use him as kind of trade bait if somebody ends up going down or something and they're trying to salvage their season, you know, I don't think you bring him back to be the starter to compete, you know, I think it's solely for that cap purpose. I mean, we are, I mean, we've released pretty much all the guys we tend to free as much cap as we can, but we still need more. So it's like, well, you're going to get more one year release job, right? Yeah, you can, but I mean, we still, I mean, think about how many holes we have to fill. You have to sign draft class, too. It's like, we, it's, it's brand insuring company are going to have to do some pretty crazy things to put a semi competitive team out there with the type of cap room we have and the amount of holes we have to fill. Right. You know, they get that cap room, June 1st, just for clarification. So when they announce job as a June 1st designation, that's when the money becomes available.

17:36So they would be able to use that to sign their draft class, they would be able to use that in season to make whatever moves they need to make for injury and they'll have that money. So it's between, you know, now and then that you have to worry because right now, you know, free agency is going to be starting and we've only got $5 million. Yeah, that's what I was about to say. I mean, between now and June by the time June 1st comes around as far as filling holes that we need to through free agency, anybody who's worth the damn is going to be long gone by that. Right. And they're not, you know, I said they're not going to be overly active, but let's go back to two or for a minute, okay? You know, you've got a new head coach, you've got a new GM here. You've got two of sitting on the sideline, viewers has had three, four straight bad games to start the season, okay? Do you want to be in that position as a head coach to where people are screaming for two or to be brought in now at this point to win your football games? So I mean, you've got to think about that, you know, there, there, there'll be a lot of

18:39pressure on them. Hey, you know, viewers has failed you, right? If in fact, he does fail you, you've got two of sitting on the sideline, making a ton of money. I mean, you know, the press will be just blasting him now. Well, he, you know, you know, will he give in to that? You know, the fan pressure. I don't see any pressure. I don't see it. Maybe make Daniel, but these new guys, I think they're pretty, and we picked up that Cam Miller too. So maybe you just used to as that emergency quarterback, you know, it's not even active majority of the weeks, but I don't understand what you're saying, what you're saying. Yeah, I don't like being in that position. I just don't. I mean, you know, you're going to, nothing good comes from it. Nothing good is going to come from that because, you know, you're going to sit there and, you know, the fan base, people that don't necessarily understand what's going on that want them to go out and, you know, think that they're going to, and I'm not saying, you know, football fans are, you know, are dumb people. I mean, you know, some people do understand the game.

19:42They're casual fans and they're, you know, they're hard. And there's a ton of casual fans out there, and they're going to basically look at it as if, you know, oh, man, you know, what are they doing? They got to and making all this money sitting on the sideline, you know, what purpose is he serving? A backup quarterback is a backup quarterback. If you're, if your starter is failing you, you know, you, you bring in, you bring in the backup at some point, especially a guy that's been a starter for five or six years. So, you know, you're putting, you're putting the head coach in a position to where, you know, I say you just avoid it and you don't, you know, you bring in another guy. You know, or, you know, if there's anybody else that they bring in as a rookie, then you have that option, you know, you don't have the tour option. So, you know, that's another reason why I, why I feel, you know, you just, you just part ways, you know, so you're, you're not in that position at any point this year because

20:44there's no guarantee yours is going to, is going to play at a high level or even a mediocre level. We just don't know at this point. Well, it's hard to say because we don't know what's going to be around them either. Exactly. That's another, that's another major factor. Absolutely. You know, there's not going to be an awful lot around them. So, yeah. Okay. What else we got? Well, I mean, you know, obviously we, we talked about free agents you starting. So, what are your expectations, Lewis? I mean, obviously they're not going to go out and sign high dollar players because they don't have high dollars, but what do you think they will do? Well, you know, you've got some interesting, I think right, let's go back to Patterson. I mean, I hate starting with a kicker, but, you know, Patterson, I believe, is a free agent this year. And I will tell you this, you know, looking at his numbers, Mike, you know, he may not have the 58 to 60 yard range, but 50 plus, he was three of four and 40 to 49, he was 11

21:44of 11. I mean, so he made 14 of his 15 kicks beyond 40 yards last year. So, he's a pretty damn good player. If you can get him and, you know, keep him around for the next three or four years on a decent salary, then great because I mean, he did an exceptional job for us last year. I think he missed one extra point and he had 35 of those kicks. So, he, you know, he only missed a handful of kicks all last year. Now, pass that, you know, as far as free agency goes, I mean, you know, unless guys, I mean, a kicker, obviously, you'll be, you know, you can keep him here for three or four years, past him, you know, how many guys on this roster, guys, do you see here, like even two years from now, right? You know, there's a handful, but not many. So, I mean, do you want to go and get guys and free agency that are on their second contract? The only way you're doing that is if it's a guy that is under the radar is on a team

22:49that's very deep at a specific position and a guy that maybe will help you two years down the line because they can turn this around, you know, to be a competitive team, maybe not this year, but the following year, if they make the right moves during the draft and bring in some talented players, free agency wise, you know, they can turn it around and they can be an extremely competitive team. We've seen teams do this, you know, they turn it around quickly. There's a lot of examples out there. We don't have to go through that. We've done it before on previous podcasts. So, you know, with all that being said, you know, they have to be, and I'm sure they will be. I trust in these guys, they're going to have to be very smart in the free agents that they do sign. I think they're going to be like maybe, you know, third tier guys, I would say, not even second tier guys, that, you know, they feel like, hey, you know, a guy like a dulcig, for example, you know, to where this guy's got talent.

23:52He's just been injured a few times. We can get him very cheap and we throw him against the wall and see if he sticks. You know, that's how I think they're going to approach this. I like to get it. And Riley Patterson is a free agent and he made 1.7, I'm sorry, 1.1 million last year. Right. So, you know, maybe they double that, you know, yeah, exactly. The question is, you know, will there be competition for him? That's that's really the question. Right. I mean, at some point, you need a kicker, right? So, I mean, you know, he played well last year. So, you know, he may get other offers elsewhere. I mean, Sanders, I'm sure, you know, may very well get picked up as well if he's healthy enough to play next year. But, you know, it, the small moves like that, you know, I think, you know, if they feel they can lock him in, you know, for three or four years at a decent salary, then by all means do it, you know, you know, he was, you know, he's a guy that, you know, we relied

24:56upon this year and did a really good job for us. And I feel the same way about dosage, you know, if you can get him at a decent salary, I think he's a guy going forward that can be very productive for you. And those are the type of guys that, you know, I think they're going to go after, you know, they're going to go after under the radar guys. Yeah. You're probably going to lose Larry Bournem. Right. Who is our swing tackle? Yeah. And the talk is that he'll probably get low and start our money. That's not something we're going to be able to compete with for a swing tackle. Right. So you might look for them to sign up a swing tackle, a lower tier swing tackle, but a swing tackle. Well, what about, you know, the scenario of, you know, just releasing, you know, Austin and, and resigning Bournem, you know, I mean, that, that may save you some money there as well, you know, I mean, that, which is a possibility, I guess they're going to evaluate

25:56all that. So if you do that, then you'd be looking for a better player, you know, what then Bournem, you mean? No, then Jackson. If you're releasing Jackson, unless you're going to make Bournem the starter, well, that's what I'm saying. You make Bournem the starter for now, at least. And then, you know, you, you, you concentrate through the draft on bringing a guy along. I mean, that may save you money because, you know, we taught, I mean, it just depends on how cheap these guys come and I can honestly see that. I mean, listen, is the play between Bournem and Austin Jackson that big of a gap? In all honesty. I mean, I, I, I don't see it. I really don't, you know, I, I think they were helping Bournem to a point, but, you know, I, I, I think I would prefer Jackson, but not by a large margin. Exactly. So, I don't know. I mean, with the injuries, I think I'd prefer Bournem at this point. Well, that's as if I'm not in Jackson's home, even been able to stay on the field, especially for what we're paying them.

26:56So, I know I just read a report that they're trying to restructure, um, Jackson's contract right now, but if they can, I can see him being, I mean, how much, do you know how much off the top of your head? How much we'd save if we cut Jackson? I don't think it would be a lot, but I could look. Yeah, I read it was only like, I think a million or two, so I don't know if it's, if it's worth getting rid of him, but as far as what I think how we're going to approach free agency, I think it's going to be a lot of the same from last year, either one year deals or two year deals with the money expiring after the first year. I mean, we're going to have to be super frugal this year and, you know, we're going to have to make- We would save 1.6. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I think it's, at that point, it's just better to bring him back just to have as an option. Yeah. And our debt cap number would be 13.7, so that's not going to help you. No. That's not going to help us at all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, underachievers, guys, you know, I don't think, you know, this regime is, is

28:01all for those type of guys by no means. He's another guy, hydraff pick from the past regime. First round pick. First round pick, yeah. So it's going to be interesting to see what they do. You know, I, I wouldn't mind, and you know, him going as well. And I, I hate to say this guy is going to be saying this over and over again, but to me, it does not matter, you know, I want to see guys out there that, that are on the field, you know, weekend and week out, and they're performing at a, you know, at least a mediocre level and a consistent level, not up and down, not games where they're just pathetic. And then the next day they're average, the next week they're average, and then they go back to being under, under average, I mean, you know, we look at the grades, Mike, every week, you know, Chris, I know he doesn't do the, you know, the Monday shows, but you always bring the grades to the table. And some of these guys that we're talking about, you know, that, that are getting released

29:04here just did not pan out well, you know, week to week, you know, their grades were just horrible. They were below average on most weeks, you know, the grades just objective. You know what I mean? I don't put a great amount of weight in them, right? But sometimes, you know, when you watch the game or you watch the film, you get ideas about players and I kind of use the grades to confirm what I'm thinking. Right. Well, that's what I do. I mean, I never base my, my, my sole opinion on, you know, the grades that they throw out because some of them just don't make any sense. But, you know, when it's consistent, Mike, you know, week to week, you know, to where you're kind of, you know, seeing things and you see the, I mean, Austin Jackson, I've never been happy with at all. And I, you know, I felt that, well, let's give him the benefit of the doubt that he's going to develop. But when you're not on the field the last two years, you know, and when you are on the field, you're not playing at a good level, I have no use for you, you know, it's simple

30:08as that. You don't have any use for you. I mean, let's move on. Okay. Take our lumps and move on, you know, what's that, Mike? I said, okay, Don. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's the way Schuler approached it. He trained your ass right in the middle of the season. You know, how many times did we see running backs, you know, that fumbled a football, you know, a couple of weeks in a row. Okay, your ass is out of here. You can't hold on to football. Well, it wasn't only Sammy, it was, I think, guys like Leroy Harris and Gary Davis, guys that were promising, you know, Joe Carter, after that championship game, never saw the field again as a dolphin, you know, I think, you know, he was a guy that, you know, fumbled a blow out two, three times in that playoff game, I mean, you know, it is what it is. It's a different, you know, it's a different set of rules now, you know, players have a lot more power. So you can't just cut people without cap random ramifications, you know, and that's

31:10the thing. You can't coach the way Schuler coach there aren't consequences like there used to be. Yeah. All right, guys, we're going to break for a few moments and we'll be right back. Well, he traded a lot of guys, you know, so what you can do, obviously, you know, you can still. You know, when you look, when you look at the team, okay, and you see the failures, you know, of high draft picks and it's abundant, you know, you know, you understand why we are where we are, you know, you kind of like, as we talk about each individual, you know, a lot of these guys, and there's a lot of guys that were drafted high that aren't even with team anymore. And so you understand why we are where we are. Sure. You know, people have to realize that, you know, these decisions that were made by the previous regime, you know, is affecting us now and they put us in the position we're in.

32:16So you got to move off of that, you know, and if it means getting rid of everybody, then get rid of everybody. It doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't, you know, at this point, Lewis, what also people need to understand is when you make a mistake in the draft, like, you know, I can't, I can't Smith or in Austin Jackson or in the monogony, then you have to try and repair that mistake. So you sign a jail in Ramsey and that costs you draft capital, yeah, absolutely. And it's snowballs. It's just snowballs because now your cap is higher because you're having to pay Ramsey what you wouldn't need to pay a working. And the problems compound themselves here, you're like on the mouse wheel and you're not getting anywhere. You're playing from behind. Yeah. Consistently. Yeah. You've got to hit your draft picks. You've got to. And if you don't, you're not going to be a consistent winner. Yeah. I mean, and there's, there's a million examples over, you know, over the last five years

33:21that, you know, that proved just that. You know, you have to go out, you know, Tyree kill, you know, you have to trade for a Tyree kill because some of the guys that you drafted just didn't pan out or some of the decision making in the guys you drafted when you should have drafted another guy, you know, wound up biting in the ass. You know, there's, there's, there's, there's players and then there's players, right? And when you have the opportunity to get, you know, a stud, you don't pass it up. You don't, you don't trade down in the draft. I, I mean, I don't, I'm not a firm believer in that. I mean, unless you're getting five or six draft picks, no, I might be a fan of that this year because of their situation. Well, it depends. Numbers will help. Yeah. But it will depend Mike on, yeah, but at some point, listen, Mike, at some point, you have to get five star players, okay? If there's a five star player on the board, you have to draft them.

34:23I mean, I'm sorry. I don't care if you pick up, you know, an extra draft pick in the second or third round. To me, it doesn't matter. If you have a stud, now I understand what you're saying, you know, if there's a guy there, you know, if a lot of the guys that they're targeting are not there and they're like trading down three spots and they feel they can still get the guy they want, I get it. But if they have an opportunity at the best player coming out of the draft at that specific position, whether it be a corner or an offensive lineman or a defensive edge, you got to go it or a linebacker has Chris talked about the guy, I mean, I don't care who it is. If it's a five star player, you got to draft them. We have to start putting guys like that on our roster at some point. I don't know if you get a five star player at 11. I don't know that, you know. Well, that's what I just said, you know, but they'll have to, you know, I mean, they have their board.

35:24They know what they think of the top 20 players, you know, I'm sure they'll make a decision based on that. But, you know, how that goes in the draft, it's a crap shoot, you know, they could easily pass up a peninsula if they're if they're not careful. So, you know, you've got to weigh it. But I think that with the situation that they're in, they need an awful lot of players and they don't have a lot of cap dollars, which means you need rookies. So if I can trade a first round pick, drop down, maybe 10 spots and pick up a second and another first, you know, that's tempting. Yeah, there's only a few blue chip players in this draft, but if, you know, we're all expecting Mendoza to go number one. But if one of the teams in front of us, which I think there's probably three different teams that take that running back who's supposed to be a top three player in the draft, a guy like Francis Maui, Noah may slide to us, Ruben Bain. They're talking about his arm length may slide to us sunny styles, who I talked about

36:27last week, who I would love for us to get. They're talking about him going in the top five, but him being an inside linebacker, they're saying the same thing with Caleb Downs, they're saying that, you know, teams may just want to have that edge rusher or that tackle instead. If one of those guys slide to us, you have to take him, but if all those guys are gone and nobody takes that running back and all the blue chip players, the second half of that first round, they're also is a lot of talent. So I'm kind of, you know, on the fence about trading down or, but like I said, I mean, if one of those Bain Maui, Noah Downs, one of those blue chip guys slide to you, you have to take him. But if all those guys are gone, then I'm with Mike, I'm down to trade 10 slots down and still get, you know, a book and tackle or, you know, I mean, the corners at 11, I mean, they're projected to go around 15 to the top two corners. So I don't want to reach on one of those guys, but I mean, if they're going to, if they have Probo, all pro potential, then, you know, I'm all for it, but they definitely have

37:29to be smart about how they go about this first draft with this new regime. Absolutely. It's no different than the 2020 and 2019 drafts, you know, except we don't have as many picks, which I wish we did. Yeah. Yeah. It is going to be interesting because, you know, you have, you know, you have guys like Cornell Tate, you know, who's, you know, they're talking about the Saints, possibly drafting him the Chiefs. You know, they're, they're linked to love, you know, they're running back. You know, what'll be interesting is Caleb Downs, like you mentioned, Chris. I mean, you know, there's, there's guys there. I mean, who, what corner do you like the best? You know, because there's a good possibility that all the corners are still going to be there when we draft. I mean, would you take the corner there at number, better than which one would it be? Unfortunately, the better prospect is the guy who tore his ACL and didn't, didn't play

38:29it all last year. I mean, he, they said he'd be easily a top 10 pick. Had he not torn his ACL last year, he's a ball-hawk. He's got good, good speed. I mean, they're waiting till his pro day. He didn't do anything at the combine, but he's going to be working out at his pro day. So once they see how he runs and how he moves and all those different drills, if he's back to normal, then I mean, I think, you know, who are you talking about, Chris? No. No. And so, Delane is the other one of the, I can't think of what the other prospect, you're talking about McCoy at a time of, yeah, that's what I'm talking about McCoy. So McCoy is the better prospect of the two. He's just coming off a significant injury. So it's like you play it safe and take Delane who, Mansor Delane also is supposed to be a good, you know, I mean, he doesn't have great ball skills, but he's big. He can run. I mean, he's, he's a little bit bigger of a corner, but he's still going to be solid. But like I said, of the two, it's the guy who's coming off a major significant injury.

39:33So you're taking, you know, wild card either way. And if it's at that point, I'd kind of rather trade down if all the other guys that I named earlier are off the board at that point. And Carnaultate is another guy who we want to go in that top 10 pick because that's, you know, and even if Carnaultate slides to us, I mean, they say he's supposed to be pretty good. He's a bigger, more possession type of receiver. You put him on the other side of Waddle. I mean, we just, we have so many holes to fill that, but see the problem with that too is like you can trade down in the first round. And there's still other receivers that they say could be on his level. They just have different skill sets, you know what I mean? If I'm after that, I'm not looking at risk. Yeah. Not at 11 probably not, but not at 11 if you trade down, you know, and you're, I mean, it's going to be quite interesting to see how they approach this, you know, I mean, I personally feel that, you know, I don't know how many, do you guys know how many

40:34draft picks we have in this draft? I think we have a pretty decent amount. We have an eight. We have three third round picks. Three third round picks. I mean, listen, that, that, that's, you know, that's nice. I mean, you know, you're talking about five picks in the first three rounds. I mean, you know, that's a nice chunk. Those five picks will be in the top 100. Yeah. So I mean, draft the best guy on the board across the board. I mean, that's always been my philosophy, you know, you know, take the best guy, especially if he's, and we've seen this happen over and over again, where we pass up on guys that are, you know, basically the top guy at that position and they go on, well, yeah, I mean, there, no, there's a million guy, I mean, Mike, I'm talking about across the lines, and I'm talking about in the second area, you know, Chris brings up guys weekend and week out. Man, this is a guy that we had an opportunity to draft and we didn't. And now he's, you know, a pro bowl offensive lineman, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

41:34I mean, at some point, you know, you pick, you take the best guy on the board at that point, and you plug him in. And he's a starter for you for the next four or five years, and he's putting up, you know, productive, you know, productive games weekend and week out, you know, that, that's what this team needs a lot more of. They just don't trade enough for Iconberg when Creed Humphries was right there, and now Creed Humphries is pro one of the best centers in the game, and Iconberg is on his way out of you. That's why you're rebuilding. Yeah. That's it. I mean enough, you know, Greer did a lot of that bullshit trading up, trading down, trading up, trading down. I mean, it always seemed like when he traded up for a guy, it was a mistake, and when he traded down for a guy, it was a mistake, you know, he couldn't win at either end. I think the only guy he got that, that he traded up for if I'm not mistaken was Xavier Howard. Yeah, I don't know. I think you're right about that.

42:35Well, there were a couple, I mean, remember the tight Andy traded up for in the second or third round. Oh, not Jake Long, I don't know, not Jake Long, he traded up for him either the second and gave up draft picks. I mean, this guy was just, you know, he was giving draft picks away, you know, but second for Josh Rosen. Oh, okay, I wasn't totally against that. I think you got to try, right? Yeah, I had some upside, but I mean, it's probably not the right guy. That's the right guy to invest in, but I like the ideology. Listen, when it's time to quarterback, listen guys, when a team is, is that quick to get rid of somebody? Okay, that's a, that's a, that's a sure sign that, you know what? This guy is not a good football player, but in that particular instance, they had a shot to draft.

43:35The guy like, Collar Murray, who was supposed to be generational as the number one pick, as to where, you know, Josh Rosen, they took him at, I want to say between 10 and 12 to where, you know, he had a lot of talent, I think it was somewhere between 10 and 12, or maybe he was eight and 12 or something like that. I mean, I'll, I'll look it up, but regardless, I mean, that, that instance, particular, like I said, I mean, you have a guy in Collar Murray, you have the first overall pick and, you know, his talent wise, I think he could have been a great quarterback. His work ethic and, you know, off-season regimen and stuff like that has been, and he mixed that with the injuries because he's not a huge guy, but, you know, Collar Murray coming out of college was supposed to be that dude, you know? Yeah, he was, he was, he was watching him play this year. I'm sorry. I'm like, he was drafted at 10 this year. Go ahead, Mike, what did you say? I said, you may be watching him play this year. Those are reports that Dalton's are interested in. I mean, I don't buy these reports.

44:36Kyle Murray? Yeah. Oh, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't particularly like that. And those go up a little and it's, you know, been five others, but, you know, the reports are what they are, you know, a lot of them are just people trying to write a story. Yeah, another report I actually saw in regarding HN yesterday, they said that we're, we're not coming down on our price as far. I mean, he's open for trade, but we're not taking anything less than a first round pick, which I love nor would I mean, I'd be open to trading him, but if it's anything less than a first round pick, I'm not doing it. If they offer a 2027 first round pick, I'd probably still do that, but you'd have to give me like a third this year or something like that, but I would do it because it's going to help me position for a quarterback. Yep. And I don't need that. That's why I would back with some talent. If you have multiple first round picks, if you don't need them to move up and take the guy you want, you know, right. So, you know, the more darts you have, the better your chances of hitting the bullseye.

45:41Yeah. Simple as that. So anyway, you know, that's what I, what's that I said, tell that to Greer, Mike. Well, he couldn't throw a dart. Yeah, exactly anything you guys want to add. I don't think so. I think that's it for me. All right. Well, thanks for joining me this morning and thanks for listening, everybody. We'll be back later in a week and until then, fins up. Fins up. Fins up, doll fans. And that's the end of another show. I want to thank the Believe Network for allowing us to join them this year and the Dolphins Talk Network who we've been a part of for many years. I want to thank both of these outfits, they're exceptional people and we're out proud and honored just to be a part of it. Until next time, take care.